€450K golden hand-
»»Taoiseach and Tanaiste call for pay-off to be ‘reassessed’ »»But Bakhurst says O’keeffe severance package ‘correct’
KEVIN Bakhurst has stated RTE’S former Chief Financial Officer Breda O’keeffe’s exit package was “correct”.
His comments follow calls from the Taoiseach and Tanaiste for Ms O’keeffe to pay back any money she received incorrectly.
In a meeting with the Media Minister Catherine Martin last night, the Director General said the package does not need to be “reassessed”.
He also made commitments to seek fresh legal advice on whether details of exit packages given to Rory Coveney, former Director of Strategy, and Richard Collins, former Chief Financial Officer, can be divulged.
It follows the bombshell revelation at Wednesday’s Oireachtas Committee that Ms O’keeffe was “paid €450,000 to leave” RTE.
Following their phone call, a spokesperson for Minister Martin said: “The DG assured the Minister that the severance package paid to the former CFO Breda O’keeffe does not need to be reassessed as he is confident it is the correct amount.
“[Ms Martin] emphasised the need for maximum transparency, particularly in respect of exit packages.
“He has committed to seeking updated legal advice in relation to the disclosure of details of individual exit packages.”
A spokesman for RTE confirmed that Mr Bakhurst is seeking updated legal advice.
The Director General would not divulge to Fianna Fail’s Christopher O’sullivan at the committee hearing what sort of deals were struck with Mr Coveney and Mr Collins.
He said: “There are legal constraints around some of these individuals.
“There are also data protection [issues].”
Yesterday morning, Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin said Ms O’keeffe should hand back some of her €450,000 golden handshake if proper procedures were not followed.
Asked by the Irish Mirror if he agreed with this, the Tanaiste stated the package should be “reassessed”.
He said: “In my view, any redundancy package should be within the framework of the existing schemes within RTE and within the procedures that the organisation administers.
“What I would believe should happen is that the particular package should be reassessed in the context of agreed procedures then the issue resolved that way.
“In other words, if the amount is far too high in respect of agreed procedures, then the proper package should then be identified and the remainder handled.” Speaking on Dublin’s 98FM, the Taoiseach echoed the Tanaiste’s comments and described the situation as “very damaging for RTE”.
He added: “What has to be established now is if proper procedures were followed or not.
“If in any way proper procedures weren’t followed by RTE, well then I think it should be returned.”
Minister Martin, meanwhile, told the Dail there was a “moral obligation” for Ms O’keeffe to return the money.
A Mccann Fitzgerald report into voluntary exits at the national broadcaster found former Director General Dee Forbes signed off on the redundancy without receiving approval from the RTE executive.
Despite the voluntary exit scheme saying there needed to be cost savings linked to redundancies, Ms O’keeffe was succeeded as CFO by Richard Collins on a salary of €220,000 a year.
Elsewhere, Dr Orla Lenihan, Assistant Professor in Governance, Sustainability and Finance at the University of Galway, told Today with Claire Byrne there was a “culture of fear” in RTE.
She claimed: “Many of the executive team were operating under the direct instruction of the former Director General, previously in relation to the barter account, now a situation with the approval of exit packages.”
The DG assured the Minister the severance package does not need to be reassessed SPOKESPERSON FOR CATHERINE MARTIN YESTERDAY
Redundancy package should be within the framework of existing schemes within RTE